ExChristianDotNet - encouraging ex-Christians (de-converting or

Christian Writer Decries “Intolerance” of Atheist Billboards Telling People To Skip ChurchThank you for your interest in Patheos newsletters! Please enter your email address below and click the "Subscribe" button. Thank you for your subscription. You can visit your Preference Center to complete your profile and see what else we have to offer.All In » Sincerely, Natalie ReedThis is the last post I will ever write about conflicts internal to the Atheist Movement. I quit. Consider this my act of serving the movement my divorce papers. There is a lot I’ve been thinking about lately, and I’ve been doing a great deal of reappraisal of how I relate to Atheism, to Skepticism, how I see myself fitting into it.

The Telegraph: “Atheism is an old boys’ club. More women should admit to being Godless”The Telegraph – January 11, 2016 The trouble with the atheist movement, of which I consider myself a part, is that sometimes it just looks far too much like religion. To put it bluntly: it’s pale, stale and male. Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett, are often referred to as atheism’s ‘four horsemen’. All deeply interesting individuals – but also exactly the sort of faces that a patriarchal religion might appoint as its elders. Recognising this, Somali author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali was added to the clique when Hitchens died (the fourth horse-woman).Pagan Atheists: Yes, we exist, by Stifyn EmrysCan atheists be Pagans? To me, the answer to that question seems easy. Of course they can.

'I Don’t Believe This Anymore': What It's Like to Leave Behind Abusive, Right-Wing ReligionAmericans are leaving their religions at a faster rate than ever before, and that means more are looking for help with the transition. People who are casually religious may walk away and not look back. But for others religion is at the very heart of their identity, worldview and community, and having a safe place to process doubts can be a metaphorical godsend.

Toxic AtheismUnder threat of court order, today’s “National Day of Prayer” may be the last. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has sued to abolish the practice and won its initial court victory. Today’s celebration of the tradition takes place under the President’s order to appeal that decision. The struggle shows a classic case of a social-political movement that is arguably legally valid but politically toxic.

Politicians Will Ignore Secular Americans Until We Give Them a Reason to ListenThank you for your interest in Patheos newsletters! Please enter your email address below and click the "Subscribe" button. Thank you for your subscription. You can visit your Preference Center to complete your profile and see what else we have to offer. We apologize, we were unable to complete your subscription at this time, please try again later. If this error persists please contact us at communications@patheos.com.Moderate atheists criticize radical atheistsModerate atheists criticize radical atheists Over the last year, a certain respected conservative journalist, who had never before written on philosophical or religious themes, came out suddenly and noisily as an angry atheist. She then proceeded to write a series of attacks on religious belief (discussed here, here, here, here, and here) in which her resentful dislike of religion was matched only by her total, absolute ignorance of the subject. It now turns out that she reflects the emerging trend of atheism today. In the past, public atheists were expected to know something about Christianity and belief in God even as they were denying their validity. But today, as discusssed by Peter Steinfels in an interesting article in the New York Times, the foremost atheists are pure bigots.

Growing Up Without Religious IndoctrinationI was indoctrinated into a mainstream Protestant denomination of Christianity from an early age. I sometimes wonder what would have been different if I had grown up in a secular household and not been subjected to religious indoctrination of any kind. It is impossible to know how things might have been different, but I'd guess that Christianity would have seemed far less normal to me than it once did. Many of the things I used to believe as a Christian seem downright absurd now.Atheism has ancient roots and is not ‘modern invention’, claims new textPhoto credit: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters By Alison Flood Atheism is not a modern invention from the western Enlightenment, but actually dates back to the ancient world, according to a new book by a Cambridge academic – which challenges the assumption that humanity is naturally predisposed to believe in gods.

» Atheism has ancient roots and is not ‘modern invention’, claims new textPhoto credit: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters By Alison Flood Atheism is not a modern invention from the western Enlightenment, but actually dates back to the ancient world, according to a new book by a Cambridge academic – which challenges the assumption that humanity is naturally predisposed to believe in gods. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh, professor of Greek culture at Cambridge University, lays out a series of examples showing that atheism existed in polytheistic ancient Greece. It is, according to its author, partly “an attempt to excavate ancient atheism from underneath the rubble heaped on it by millennia of Christian opprobrium”. Whitmarsh, a fellow of St John’s College, believes that the growing trend towards seeing religion as “hardwired” into humans is deeply worrying.